Oh, how I missed the children!

I love a good break.  And a nice, long weekend.  And even a snow day or two...or ten!  But I also love, love, LOVE the children.  Absence most definitely makes the heart grow fonder.  And I had been away for far too long.  Here are a couple of highlights:

A third grade teacher in my building was doing a journal entry and had the kids drawing and writing about a secret club.  One of the darlings made a sign on the door of her club that said: "Don't make no messes and don't do no trash talk."  Ignoring the grammar, that is excellent advice for life.  So many things could be avoided if people didn't make no messes or do no trash talk.  I probably need to make my own sign with that rule.  Or maybe a t-shirt?  I'll let you know when I launch my clothing line.

Today one of my little friends came in and was so incredibly sad.  He put his head down and just cried and cried.  I went over to give him a hug and to see what I could do:

Me: What's wrong?
Tears: Someone in my family died.
Me: Oh, no!  Who died?
Tears: I don't know.
Me: You don't know?  Was it someone close to you or did you just hear your parents talking about it and it made you sad?
Tears: Well, she couldn't walk anymore and she kept falling and so we had to put her to sleep.
Me: ...I had no words because I was thinking they put his grandma to sleep or something and I couldn't wrap my head around why they put someone in their family to sleep.
Tears: [sobbing] It was my cat!
Me: Oh, your poor cat!  I'm so sorry.  [Thinking: Whew!  Thank God it was just a cat!]

Obviously, my brain was still asleep because I really thought a grandparent had been "put down" and I was really concerned for the emotional well-being of this child.  And concerned that I may become involved in some kind of murder trial since this kid just told me about how they put a family member "to sleep".  But by the end of the day, he was back to his normal self; falling out of his chair and kicking his neighbor. 

I don't know about you guys, but I really work hard on manners and just developing socially acceptable behaviors with some of my friends.  I had a heart to heart with my kindergartners earlier this year about how instead of announcing, "I GOTTA POOP!", you should just ask, "May I go to the restroom?"  We've been doing really well with it.  Until today.

Little Darling: I GOTTA POOP!
Me: What should you say instead?
Little Darling: I GOTTA POOP, PLEASE?
Me: No...try, "May I go to the..."
Little Darling: May I go to the poop?
Me: "May I go to the restroom?"
Little Darling: Oh!!

{For the record: the conversation took much longer to type than it did to actually have with the child.  She didn't have those scary EMERGENCY eyes either.  We weren't at risk for an explosion!  I thoroughly assessed the situation prior to making it a teachable moment.}

Oh, the cute moments totally make up for all of the times I end up beating my head against a wall.  For the most part...  Have any of you had a funny or sweet moment over the past couple of days that made the alarm clock {almost} worth it?  I want to hear 'em!  That way I'll have lots of funnies and warm fuzzies to save for a rainy day.